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Join us as Mr. Jack Madrid, President and CEO of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), discusses the vital role of the IT-BPM industry in driving economic growth, innovation, and sustainability for Cebu and the entire country. Hear his insights on overcoming challenges and positioning the Philippines as a top global investment destination in the sector.
Join us as Mr. Jack Madrid, President and CEO of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), discusses the vital role of the IT-BPM industry in driving economic growth, innovation, and sustainability for Cebu and the entire country. Hear his insights on overcoming challenges and positioning the Philippines as a top global investment destination in the sector.
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01:00Today, we focus on a critical sector during driving the country's economy, the IT business process management industry.
01:10And joining us today is Jack Madrid, President and CEO of the IT Business Process Association of the Philippines, or IDPAP, to discuss how the organization is keeping the Philippines competitive and relevant as a prime investment destination for IT BPM services.
01:29Good afternoon, Jack.
01:32Greetings, DJ. It's good to be here.
01:35Yes. And congratulations for hosting another highly successful international IT BPM Summit.
01:44Well, thank you very much, DJ. You know, I think our summit gets better every year. It was certainly the best one, the best one yet. Thank you.
01:58Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's always that's always the spirit. It's continuous improvement.
02:03So, Jack, actually, to start today's conversation, we've actually done our research and you had an impressive journey in MTV and in Yahoo and now with IDPAP.
02:18So, what drew you to champion the IT BPM cost for the Philippines?
02:26Well, yes, you know, I always like to say, DJ, that, you know, one could not I could never have expected the journey, my journey as it has evolved.
02:37And the way I describe it is you one can never connect the dots forward. I can only connect the dots backward.
02:44And that that's the only way that this, you know, 30 plus year journey makes sense, starting from my career as a banker in Citibank.
02:58And then joining, you know, the Ayala Corporation for, for nine years, then my career took, took, you know, a really interesting and exciting turn when I, when I went into media 20, I guess, almost 20 years ago, having the opportunity to, to set up.
03:27I set up MTV here in the Philippines back then, very exciting years, it was a process of needing to reinvent myself.
03:37And, and the reason I mentioned this is because it's really quite a turning point.
03:41And, and once you, you know, get into media, it really opens up a lot of other things that, you know, you, you didn't even think you were capable of.
03:52But, but, but without that move to MTV, you know, I, I would not, I may not have landed in the ITBPM industry.
04:03And let me explain why that is because after a few years in MTV, I, I then, you know, uh, had the opportunity to, to, uh, to join, uh, one of the very first GCCs of the industry at that time.
04:20We weren't even calling it, uh, GCC, uh, at that time, it, it was just, I think it was called captive or in house, something like that.
04:29Uh, and, and it was a company, uh, that, that was set up in the Philippines, 2006.
04:36I think, uh, the company's Dell, uh, when Michael Dell visited the Philippines in the early 2000s, he was really impressed with what he saw.
04:45He saw the talent landscape and decided to set up, uh, Dell's first delivery center in the Philippines at, at the mall of Asia.
04:54And, and that was the opportunity that was offered to me, you know, and I have to give kudos to Dell for choosing someone from MTV, uh, to, to, to run their, uh, to be one of the, the leaders of, uh, of, of their operation.
05:11Uh, and, and that, you know, uh, I'll never forget the day that I walked into the Dell facility, uh, seeing, uh, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Dell workstations.
05:23And, uh, that was, that was for my interview.
05:28And, uh, and I, I remember the image in my head, uh, when I saw that, and I, I, I actually saw, uh, you know, the numbers of jobs that this industry could provide young Filipinos.
05:44And I said, wow, this is, this is the future of the Philippines.
05:48Little did I know that, you know, over a decade later, I would actually find myself in my present position, uh, you know, uh, being responsible for IBPAC.
06:00We are the flagship organization, uh, for the ITBPM industry.
06:05And, and, and, you know, um, I mean, I guess the rest is, is history, uh, and, and not that we're finished.
06:14In fact, maybe we're finished with the first chapter of that history, but there's a lot, there's a lot more to come.
06:20And I couldn't be, couldn't be, uh, you know, couldn't, couldn't describe this more than, uh, you know, uh, quite, quite a ride this past four years since I took, took on the role, uh, in, in late 2021.
06:37Uh, and, and, and I couldn't have asked for a more fulfilling, uh, uh, you know, uh, responsibility.
06:45So, uh, the attraction, uh, to your question is really, you know, just, just the sheer enormity, uh, of, of, uh, you know, job generation, uh, and, and contributing, you know, uh, export revenue that, that accounts for over 8% of the Philippines GDP.
07:12I, I think that in itself, I mean, how many times in one's life, uh, can, can you be given that opportunity?
07:20So I certainly have not taken it, uh, lightly.
07:23Maybe I didn't appreciate it quite as much in the beginning, but certainly, you know, the, the, the, just, just the sheer scale of that opportunity
07:37and, uh, and the size of that responsibility is certainly not lost on me and, and my team, you know, and that's why we do what we do.
07:47Uh, it's, it's, this is really, uh, this is really for, for all of us, for all Filipinos, for the country.
07:55And, uh, needless to say, we, we need this.
07:59Uh, one of the things that I said at, at the summit's opening, you know, when, when, when I gave my opening remarks was this industry has become too big to fail.
08:10And so, uh, we, uh, and it is our collective duty to all work together and make, and make this happen.
08:17Yeah.
08:18So the ITBPM, as you said, has been the backbone of the Philippine economy for many years already.
08:28And the organization is gearing towards the 2028 roadmap.
08:33Can you share to our viewers what the roadmap is?
08:38Well, you know, the, uh, IVPAP's roadmap 2028 is really the industry's blueprint.
08:45For, uh, uh, the strategy, uh, the objectives and the targets for, uh, how we're going to up, you know, uh, grow, grow the industry.
09:00Um, a lot has happened since we launched the roadmap in, in the fourth quarter of 2022.
09:07So we're, we're still only at the midway point of the roadmap, but I can tell you so many things have changed.
09:14Already in the global, global and local landscape for, for the industry.
09:21However, having said that, because of the resilience, uh, of the industry and our, uh, and our talent, uh, we have achieved, um, our growth targets in both export revenue.
09:37And number of new jobs, uh, generated, uh, we will end 2025 with 1.9 million, uh, digital Filipino workers.
09:49I, I call that the DFWs and, uh, we would be, uh, crossing, uh, the $40 billion mark in export revenue, which is the first time we will touch 40, uh, billion.
10:04And, um, you know, it's, it's, it's been, it's been, it's been quite a ride and the next three years are going to be equally, equally exciting, especially with, with the, uh, ongoing, you know, geopolitical landscape, as well as the, you know, the, uh, transformative technology.
10:26And, and, and, and, and the changes that it will bring, uh, to the way, to the way, uh, the world works, uh, including, including ITBPM.
10:35I'm referring of course, to, to generative and agentic, uh, AI and how it will impact, augment, uh, and in some cases disrupt, uh, you know, the nature of our work.
10:50So the roadmap, uh, 2028 actually aims for 2.5 million jobs and revenue, you know, of, uh, 59 billion US dollars.
11:02Um, it's good.
11:03That, that, that, those are, uh, in our roadmap, we had several different scenarios.
11:09Okay.
11:10At PJ, um, you know, in 2022, uh, when we launched it, uh, we, we talked about, uh, the three different scenarios.
11:20Well, actually only the two different scenarios because, uh, the, the, you know, we, we, we obviously had our, our baseline, uh, projections.
11:28And then we also have, uh, we had our aggressive projections.
11:33Uh, and, and, uh, I, I didn't talk about the third scenario, which was the constraint because I didn't want to, I, I was, I was, you know, I, I think, I think, uh, optimistic enough not to even talk about the constraints scenario.
11:51So what, what we talked about when we launched the roadmap was, was the baseline and the aggressive scenario.
11:59Now everyone remembers the aggressive scenario, obviously, because it's the bigger number.
12:04And it was also, uh, a more attention grabbing, uh, target, the process, the possibility of adding 1 million new jobs, uh, and, and 59 billion in, in revenue was certainly, you know, something that I, that I felt could get the attention that the ITBPM industry at that time needed.
12:28And, and, and, and, and, and, and I thought, you know, uh, uh, the aggressive scenario of adding 1 million jobs, uh, was, uh, was a very, uh, was an effective way to, to cement.
12:58The partnership that is needed to achieve that goal.
13:03No, I'm talking about the partnership between the private sector, the academe, and more, you know, very importantly, the government, because it is only that, that trinity of, uh, of partners, uh, that will position us to have
13:22a chance to make, to make, to make this happen.
13:24You know, we all have a role to play.
13:26Uh, and I reiterated that during, during the summit.
13:31So happy to say that midway through the roadmap, uh, we have achieved all our baseline targets.
13:39You know, 40 billion in export revenue this year, 1.9 million, uh, DFWs in, in 2025.
13:48Now, the next few years, you know, uh, we all have our, uh, aspirations, but, but, you know, uh, it is never easy to predict what will happen next.
14:01Hmm.
14:02Yeah, I would agree, you know, because a lot of things have already changed since 2022.
14:07So for the benefit of our viewers, Jack, can we articulate the baseline targets that we are now looking at for 2028?
14:15No, uh, you know, you know, technology is, is moving too fast, uh, more than our ability to predict what will happen.
14:26You know, I think the way that I, I want to answer that question, uh, DJ, is to focus on what we as an industry need to do to position us for, for growth, even beyond 2028.
14:43No, um, because, you know, I, I do not, and I have not seen this industry as, as one that, that pits one destination versus another.
14:55I, I, you know, whenever people say, talk about the competition with India, I said, there's really no competition.
15:01There are so, there is so much opportunity, uh, and, and roles and jobs and functions, uh, for all of us to retain our lives.
15:12To retain our leadership position.
15:14India is number one.
15:15They are, they have strengths in, in different areas, but the Philippines is a very solid number two.
15:22And our job is to really, uh, solidify that number two position.
15:27This is not a contest.
15:28This is just an opportunity to maximize the benefits that, that this industry can contribute to the economy.
15:37It's a human capital intensive industry.
15:39Mm-hmm.
15:40And, and I, I think we should protect, upgrade, strengthen, upskill that human capital, uh, and not, not worry about, you know, uh, numbers too much.
15:55Um, because, uh, because I can, I can, I can, I can, I can say that the opportunities are almost limitless.
16:05If one just focuses on, on, uh, you know, being prepared for, for the future where, uh, new technologies such as agentic AI, uh, will, will allow us to change the way we work.
16:22And, and when I say change, I hopefully, I am hopeful that that change means augment the quality of our work, allowing our workers to have value added jobs because AI will automate repetitive, uh, you know, uh, simple, uh, tasks.
16:49And, and, and that is not a bad thing because, you know, since the beginning of, of the industry, we have always talked about how can we get higher value jobs.
16:59Right.
17:00We, we always talked about that since the beginning, this is now our opportunity to, to use AI, uh, by familiarizing ourselves and learning.
17:11Some new skills to make, to make that happen.
17:15And we all want to have more interesting, fulfilling, higher value adding work, but as an industry and as employers, uh, and leaders of businesses, we need to also change our way of measuring, uh, our industry.
17:35No longer is this an industry of just number of jobs.
17:40I think we need to, to begin seriously measuring the industry, uh, by the level of capability that the DFW, uh, you know, uh, should, should aspire to be.
17:54Uh, and because the, the, the, the more skills you have, uh, the better, you know, the higher, the higher, the higher, more complex type of job, you know, you, you will, you will be, you will be given.
18:08And that, that should be our primary focus, um, for us to meet all, all our goals, whether, you know, and, and that, that should really be, you know, I talk about capability.
18:21Uh, that, that translates into revenue, uh, and, and if you want to, to, to, to drill down a little bit more, the metric that I think we should look at is revenue per employee, which is a, which is a way of measuring capability.
18:39The, the, the better you are, the more cape, the more capable you are, and the more capable you are, the more revenue you produce.
18:47So I think we have, we have, uh, you know, we have our work cut out for us.
18:53Um, there will always be, you know, there will always be a hierarchy of work within, within any industry.
19:01And in the ITBPM industry, that hierarchy of work depends on the capability, uh, and, and the process that, you know, our DFWs are responsible for.
19:13Now, the higher up that hierarchy you have, the more revenue you generate.
19:18And that can, that is only possible with higher skills, which is why one of the themes of the, of the summit of the international ITBPM summit was really, is, is really the emergence of global capability centers.
19:35You know, GCCs for short, you know, for some, for some years now we have, we have, um, seen the success of GCC, uh, hubs in India, especially in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.
19:52Now, why can't the Philippines aspire, uh, to, to be like that?
19:56And in fact, we are, uh, it's just that we may not have the same kind of focus that India has for.
20:04India has put on, on, on GCCs.
20:08India does not even talk about BPO anymore.
20:11It's, it's there.
20:12It will always be there, but because of the higher revenue and contribution, uh, and job quality of GCCs, their strategy, their roadmap is actually GCC focused.
20:28And, and one of the things I talked about at the, and some of our speakers talked about was really the importance of, uh, positioning the Philippines as the next GCC hub.
20:41Mm-hmm.
20:42And, and yeah, that, that's an interesting point, but our viewers in Sabuno, and we're still trying also to change the, the understanding of what does the industry do?
20:55Because a lot of our viewers, I believe would still call it BPO instead of BPM.
21:00So can you help our viewers understand how the industry has already evolved from how we knew it 20 years ago?
21:09Yeah.
21:10Yeah.
21:11Happy to, um, and, and I'm happy to, you know, uh, remind everyone that the city and province of Cebu, uh, is, is a very critical component of our industry being the second largest domicile for the ITBPM industry.
21:28You know, um, um, I, I believe, uh, Cebu has 270,000 digital Filipino workers, uh, that's across the entire province.
21:40And, um, and, and I think it has the potential to grow that, to grow that even more, especially with the, the much better infrastructure, uh, both digital and, uh, physical, uh, that has been, that has been, uh,
21:57that has been, uh, built in Cebu in the past, in the past few years, you know, so, but, but anyway, the industry has evolved into, into different sectors, uh, which, which really means that the nature of the roles, the functions, the processes that, uh, our DFWs deliver, uh, has, has really increased in complexity.
22:24You know, 20, 20 plus years ago, when this industry began, uh, it was known as the call center industry or the contact center industry.
22:33The term BPO came out a little bit after that.
22:36Uh, but, because of those beginnings, and the way that certain employers and companies did their recruitment, gave, gave the public,
22:51the perception uh that the nature of our work was pretty much the same wherever you work there
23:04there might have been even a perception that that we were doing only simple work
23:10you know whether whether they thought we were just telephone operators or or or or you know
23:18fulfilling tasks like directory assistance or or very simple tasks like that gave rise to this
23:30perception that the work was simple it was easy and maybe that even anyone can do it
23:38uh whether or not we started uh that way or whether that was true or partly true
23:49i can tell you that that is no longer true today and and and and so we really must must change the
23:58way we imagine and perceive the industry especially today it is no longer accurate
24:06uh to to simply label the entire industry as bpo and and certainly inaccurate to describe us as a call
24:17center or contact center industry only now having said that those remain contact centers remain
24:26uh you know maybe the biggest contributor to to the industry but even those tasks have evolved and
24:34grown more complex but other sectors have emerged had the healthcare sector has grown almost 200 000
24:45employees the technology sector software has also evolved and um and then this this thing called gcc's
24:57global capability centers a more recent phenomenon but that's been going on
25:02uh for decades uh around around the world but we've only started to talk about that a little bit late
25:10here in the philippines but even without talking about it we already became the number two gcc hub
25:18we have 170 gcc's in the country some of them are in cebu like jp morgan
25:24and and and it's still growing uh and um you know i believe uh i i believe we we have uh 260 000 uh
25:42employees in the gcc sector in the philippines so and it's the fastest growing and as i said earlier it
25:50has the highest revenue per employee so this is the kind of job that i want young filipinos to aspire if
25:57they consider the it bpm industry uh it's not to say bpos are not important no they will always be
26:05important but there is also another option depending on your skill set depending on your experience
26:12depending on what you want to do uh to to other domains and other skills uh so my message is we
26:24should all reimagine the it bpm industry uh as a place where one can build one's career over the long run
26:35because there will always be opportunities and we are not a one dimension industry doing simple tasks
26:43we have globally impactful and meaningful work uh for for our global customers
26:52we've actually the general public has a good appreciation of what the it bpm industry has been
26:59doing for the philippine economy you know but like every journey uh it's not always a happy path so what
27:07are the challenges that the industry is facing right now and how is ib pap bridging these challenges wow
27:16that's that's a very long question what are the challenges of the industry wow we will need a few hours
27:22for that but just the tough ones well well they're all they're all tough uh dj but but i'll i'll stick to
27:32what i'll stick to what i think is the most important um i i think i i i still think um i'm gonna talk about
27:43talent obviously but but the first thing i want to say is that we continue to need to address the ease of
27:49doing business because you know when when when uh when investors come to the philippines when investors
28:00decide on establishing operations in the philippines there was a lot of uh there's a lot of uh time and
28:08effort to make that kind of decision uh but that decision to invest and you know we do a pretty good job
28:17i'm talking about ib pap and our partners in government in attracting investors
28:26and when they decide obviously it's good news for the country but that that includes making promises
28:36to these investors uh promises that take the form of uh incentives quality of infrastructure
28:47and the assurance of available talent supply which i'll talk about later but but the ease of doing
28:55business is really about a stable regulatory environment
28:58and um and um you know availability of uh uh i guess quality workspaces
29:21quality of infrastructure whether it's digital connectivity
29:29you know or or physical infrastructure you know uh a big part of the growth story has really been
29:35growth of the industry outside manila and so you know the questions you know why should we go to cebu why
29:43should we go to davau clark uh more more recently why should we go to iluilo or bacolod
29:53um because there have been questions of infrastructure so uh and unfortunately uh you know in the past in the
30:02past years the digital cities the digital cities that ib pap has supported you know i include better
30:10infrastructure digital and physical airports roads stable power supply
30:16um roads and transport uh convenient conveniently located uh sites and you know office spaces
30:30uh because a lot of we you know we're a 24 7 industry so uh you know we we uh we we need we need to to to to have these
30:40these these infrastructure components uh available to our to our to our workforce so all all of all of this
30:51need to be stable whether it's policy rules um how taxes are computed and paid
31:03these are all promises made when an investor comes
31:07so the ease of doing business is really about making good on those promises
31:14and sometimes the philippines doesn't do a very good job um you know in in sometimes we face
31:22inconsistent uh interpretation implementation of uh of of rules uh yesterday at you know at the policy
31:33and regulatory and regulatory discussion uh the ease of doing business was was discussed
31:41and uh you know i won't forget you know we did we did uh uh a live questionnaire uh amongst the audience
31:52on identifying what the biggest problems were and it was very clear that uh you know a very big
31:57big topic yesterday was was the uh was the frequently encountered issues with specific lg use
32:10by our investors um fortunately uh you know cebu was not was not
32:17you know prominently cited uh as as compared to some of the other lg use so um this is important you know
32:29because even after an investor chooses the philippines the next the next discussion is where in the philippines
32:38the philippines and and and if cebu or you know ilo ilo or
32:46any lgu in manila wants to attract these investors
32:52we uh we need to to be we need we need to make sure that we
32:56um abide by our excuse me end of the bargain you know we want them to locate in our lgu we have to
33:08treat them uh well and fairly and all they want is because they're very compliant right
33:17they will comply but what what we don't want to happen is is to be taken uh you know it's to be
33:27to be subject to inconsistent uh and wrong uh implementation of rules and regulations that
33:39have already been agreed whether they be you know the and this can this can range from the issuance of
33:45local business permits to to taxes or needless red tape you know like annual submission of health
33:55certificates uh things like that right i mean obviously you know we we cannot let our investors
34:04spend a lot of time with administrative tasks we want them to be successful in their operations
34:12we should not make it harder for them by finding ways to tax them more they are compliant they
34:21will pay their taxes let's not make it any harder for them it's as simple as that because you know
34:26if if we do that they just they just make might make a decision to leave and and say you know what
34:36why am i even here i'm just going to move all of this to india to vietnam to south africa so we we will
34:47you know investors will comply but only but but but they will not want to be taken advantage of so that
34:55i i could talk for a long time about this but that's the ease of doing business
34:59and obviously you know uh availability of employable talent is another big big issue
35:07the philippines has some advantages there because we do have the demographic advantage of being the
35:12youngest country in asia so we we have 700 to 800 000 college graduates a year now but the challenge
35:20is not that number the challenge is what percentage of that number of that talent pool is employable by our
35:27industry and we we need to do a better job in converting uh a higher percentage of job seekers from the
35:37people you know from the people we interview uh and and i just go straight to the point and the talent
35:44gap that exists is a result of uh you know um combination of skills gaps that i would describe on
35:56one side as being specific domain skills you know aside from the need for more nurses we need more
36:04accountants we need more analysts we need more bankers uh so that's that's domain um but the other
36:16equally important maybe more important part is is the bucket of skills that include comprehension
36:24critical thinking creativity uh communication uh and and something something also important that we
36:35already have but it's worth saying uh is is empathy but empathy alone will not be enough
36:43we need we need domain skills we need uh and and we need comp and we need to strengthen our comprehension
36:51and and and problem solving you you you have already articulated a portion of it but i think part of the
37:00discussion also the side discussions during the summit is on the declining literacy and comprehension of
37:11our senior high graduates know and these are results also coming from internationalists and even local
37:19assessments how big is the gap and how is this potentially going to impact further the talent pipeline
37:29of the philippines uh sorry your question is how big is the gap yes because because um it's it's we have
37:39international and local assessments that measure literacy level of senior high graduates and it's declining
37:47yeah you know i i i i i don't i don't know or understand specifically how these tests and surveys work so i can't i can't say
38:05necessarily how accurate they are but i guess it's safe to say that there is
38:16there is enough evidence to show that we need to improve we should not be motivated only by rankings
38:29or you know by the embarrassment of being last or second to last um i i i think the motivation should
38:39not be that i think the motivation should be to just be better um and and not not not not do things so
38:48that our rankings will improve because i i don't really know how accurate those things are but but
38:54there's enough of it to suggest plus our anecdotal evidence to suggest that you know we can be so much
39:00better we can be so much better in communication you know let's let's not let's let's stop thinking
39:07that we are that that our english skills are are as fluent as as they were before we we have to stop
39:16that we're still in a bit of a state of denial you know uh and i and i you know it's it's hard for me
39:23to say that but i used to really think we were an english-speaking country uh now no um there's nothing
39:29wrong with not being one but let's not believe that anymore because we're really not right and and
39:37i guess if you look at those rankings it suggests that we're not i mean we're one of the poorest
39:43ranked in english um whatever rankings you look at so so but our motivation should not be should not be
39:54that um our motivation should be hey can i get the jobs that i want the fact is only 15 at best out of
40:04every 100 i can get jobs out of 50 out of 100 that we interview as an industry only 15 get
40:13interviewed uh get get get get job offers so let let that be the motivation no not not not rankings
40:23and there are also positive developments that we heard especially the uh the early part of the year
40:31about government allocating a specific amount for tesla for upscaling of uh itbpm employees so from
40:40your perspective how big of an impact this could make in terms of addressing the talent gap
40:49well you know every little bit helps
40:54um but that's not the problem
40:58the problem well let me not use the word problem the challenge
41:04the challenge is in ensuring that the curriculum the details of the training program uh be relevant
41:14and be you know be integrated with what the private sector needs you know and that's the only way we can
41:23strengthen this education to employment path which is what tesla is all about right so this is not a question of
41:34the funding the funding the funding i believe is available where we are right now with this with this
41:40program which which which is called ebet is really uh streamlining the policy and operational procedures
41:54the program that character needs um the plan for um it's another opportunity for um toyo um if you
42:04can see if uc whox whox whox are interested in í•śęµ and international CHANDA to umĂĄr his
42:09ability and request to policyção traditional jadi whether uh revenue of this program mun werlding the company
42:16to um they're um but um moaining um the information and uh revenue for rising um that is uh um this
42:21maybe um i would say gregory you can um uh continue to uh and if your career enterprise would ask um
42:22amongst the ITBPM industry workforce, right,
42:26who are applying and interested
42:33for these re-skilling programs.
42:37I mean, so what I'm talking about is really
42:44the success of this program being determined
42:47by our ability to streamline and comply
42:52with these processes of, you know, registering,
42:59accrediting, and implementing the learning.
43:05So it's not a question of funding,
43:08it's not a question of intent,
43:11but I think it's really streamlining processes
43:16that will comply with TESDA's internal processes
43:20that are also,
43:22you know, reasonable for the private sector to comply
43:27because, you know, the private sector will upskill regardless.
43:33For us to grow, we will upskill.
43:35And, you know, our industry has grown
43:37because the private sector continues that,
43:41and that's a big, big, big investment.
43:44You know, whether, you know, all our members invest in four, six, eight weeks of training
43:54for all its new hires before they, you know, before they go live.
44:01So that's a very big investment, you know, when you hire someone and have to train them for six, eight weeks
44:08before they go into production, that's quite a big investment.
44:14And so we will, the private sector will continue to invest in that.
44:21Obviously, we would be very interested and want to leverage on the TESDA program and the DICT programs
44:30for upskilling the existing workforce.
44:33But it's a question of really streamlining some processes so that we can efficiently process these applications
44:41and start the learning as soon as possible.
44:44So that's really, that's really it.
44:47Mm-hmm.
44:48You've mentioned also earlier about geopolitics though and how it's also evolving.
44:55Yes.
44:56And you're steered.
44:59Yeah.
45:00I need, I need 30 minutes.
45:02I'm on a media interview right now.
45:05Sorry about that, DJ.
45:07No, it happens.
45:09Anyway, so going back, you've mentioned earlier about geopolitics
45:13geopolitics and how it's also evolving.
45:16And part of our viewers would most likely be interested also about the proposed legislation
45:23in the US right now about Keep Call Centers in America Act, which could potentially discourage
45:32offshoring and could impose certain penalties and requirements also of disclosures.
45:39So how closely is the ITBPM industry or IBPAP monitoring this development?
45:46Well, yeah, we've, we've been aware of this for quite some time.
45:51Do I, does it keep me up at night?
45:55No, it doesn't.
45:56No, it doesn't.
45:57You know, we have, we have other more pressing problems than that.
46:02But it is an issue that we need to continue to monitor.
46:05I don't know how realistic it is from, for that bill to pass economically.
46:12I don't think it makes sense for American companies to have to spend five, five times more by keeping these jobs in America.
46:22That's my first comment.
46:23Second comment.
46:24I don't know how many Americans would, would be interested in, in these kinds of jobs.
46:29And third, I just don't think it makes economic sense.
46:34So obviously if it passes, it, it will be an issue.
46:40But right now we're monitoring it, but it doesn't keep me up at night.
46:45So, okay, which is, which is actually good, no, because it also speaks that there's urgency, but the likelihood of that to be a problem is not that much.
46:58So now after talking about the headwinds, let's talk more about the tailwinds.
47:05So can you tell us more about what are the opportunities that the Philippines can leverage given the evolving ITBPM sector worldwide?
47:18Well, you know, opportunities is, it's there, it's facing us, it's ours, it's ours to take.
47:31If we want to grow, we need to take responsibility for our lifelong learning journey.
47:40And that is my message to everyone in the industry, outside the industry, to every Filipino.
47:49Let us not use the excuse of government or cost or time, because, you know, education has changed.
48:08And the way one gets educated, acquires education, the way one learns in the history of the world has never been as easy as it is today.
48:2150 years ago, you had to have the resources to attend a good high school and university, get admitted, physically report to work, have the budget for tuition, books, living expenses.
48:44Now, everyone has a phone.
48:47A lot of these courses are available.
48:50One of our speakers yesterday said that he learned AI on YouTube.
48:57We all spend time on YouTube.
48:59So let's not complain that we are not learning anything.
49:03It's there.
49:04We just need to want it.
49:08You know, we just need to just take personal responsibility.
49:13And let's not use the excuse of, you know, I don't have money.
49:17I can't afford tuition.
49:19Because, you know, I'm a big believer in the needs to reinvent education.
49:24I think we should really move from a credential-based education program to a skills-based curriculum.
49:41Because it is skills, not college degree necessarily, that will, you know, that will get you employment or allow you to be a successful entrepreneur.
49:53So it's really that.
49:57It's really that.
49:58I know that's a very sort of strong, bold statement, you know, that not everyone will agree with.
50:07But it's okay.
50:08We all have different opinions on this.
50:11But I really think that skills are, you know, changing so fast because the jobs are changing so fast.
50:19AI is going to change how we work.
50:22And so we just need to, we just need to be very, you know, I would say, do a better job in preparing for the future.
50:34But I'm still optimistic.
50:35But personal responsibility for your learning is number one in my books.
50:41Actually, you were right earlier when you said that you wish we would have the whole day to have this conversation.
50:49So before we, and we're grateful actually for making time and for you to join us today in Beyond the Headlines.
50:56But before I let you go, Jack, I'd still would like to ask you, what is your boldest hope for the IT BPM industry in the Philippines?
51:07Boldest hope?
51:08Boldest hope?
51:10Well, you know, I would love, I would love to see in two, three years time, I would love to see us become known as, you know, the most promising and desirable.
51:36GCC hub for the world.
51:41Today, you know, the clear leader is India.
51:46I would just like to be the next one.
51:51And I mean that not by measuring it in number, but by measuring it in capability.
52:02The population difference between India and the Philippines is too big.
52:06We will never, we will, it'll take a long time for us to, to cross 1 billion and I hope we don't.
52:13But, but, but certainly in terms of capability, I would like to be comparable.
52:19I would like the Philippines to be comparable to, to India because of the capability of a Philip of the, of the Filipino digital worker.
52:28That's really, that's really it.
52:29I think it's realistic.
52:30I think it makes sense.
52:32I think it can be done, but we need to, we need, we need to all work collectively together towards that goal.
52:43So once again, thank you very much Jack for joining us today.
52:48So for our viewers, Jack Madrid is the president and CEO of the IT Business Process Association of the Philippines or IBPAP.
52:58So that wraps up today's edition of Beyond the Headlines.
53:02And we hope today's conversation helps shed light on the bigger picture and the opportunities of the IT BPM industry.
53:12So I'm DJ and thank you and good afternoon.
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